<p> Throughout his career, Alexander Scriabin created a bridge between traditional romantic harmony and modernistic, chromatic tendencies that ultimately led to the post-tonal era. Scriabin&rsquo;s middle period after Opus 32 displays several examples of his progressive harmony. However, Scriabin&rsquo;s transition into harmonic exploration is quite apparent in his <i>Fantasy in B minor </i>, which was written three years before his middle period is observed. This may demonstrate that Scriabin was developing his harmonic techniques much earlier in his career. </p><p> Furthermore, the thorough documentation of Scriabin&rsquo;s color associations shows that Scriabin conceived his music with a strong integration of sound-color awareness. Many moments in the <i>Fantasy</i> appear to possess relationships between sound and color, which can be found in expanded harmonic techniques and multi-timbral textures within the pianistic writing. This essay will first discuss the existing research completed on Scriabin&rsquo;s harmonic tendencies within earlier works, and then analyze the similar techniques used in the <i>Fantasy</i>. Using previous knowledge gathered about synesthesia, this essay will then examine the connections between Scriabin&rsquo;s perspective on composition and his connection to synesthesia. </p><p> In summary, Scriabin&rsquo;s unconventional voice leading, chromatic harmonic progressions, and altered tertian voicing, will be analyzed in Opus 28. Afterwards, synesthetic and multi-textural analysis will be demonstrated for the purposes of observing Scriabin&rsquo;s exploration of the pianistic soundscape and synesthetic-inspired compositional techniques.</p><p>

In many musical cultures, people synchronise their bodies to the rhythmic patterns of the music, and such embodied engagements are one of the most overtly enjoyable forms of musical appreciation. However, the ways in which rhythmic structure, body-movement and pleasure are related remains unclear. The present thesis directs a broadly psychological, yet multi-methodological and interdisciplinary, approach towards this relationship, centring on the rhythmic structure of syncopation in groove-based funk music. Through perceptual experiments, computational modelling, rating surveys, neuroimaging and motion-capture recording, syncopation was found to relate, in primarily negatively linear and inverted U-shaped ways, to finger-tapping performance, perceptions of stability, subjective desire to move and feelings of pleasure, neural activity in motor and reward areas, and force, synchrony and periodicity in body-movements. These relationships also depended on individuals’ musical training, dancing experience and groove familiarity. Ecological and embodied theories of perception and a phenomenology of groove provide a backdrop to the empirical findings, on the basis of which it is suggested that the different relationships between syncopation in groove and perceptual, subjective, neural and corporeal attributes interact in reciprocal ways. It is proposed that syncopation invites the body to physically enact the musical structure and directly participate in the rhythms of groove, due to the perceptual tension and ‘open spaces’ afforded by the perception of metric events in syncopation. In groove, body, mind and music extend into each other and this distributed musical process has affective significance. Since the physical pleasures of dancing to music are such a historically and culturally ubiquitous phenomenon, the empirical findings and theoretical proposals of this thesis make significant contributions towards a much-needed coupling of affective and embodied theories of music.

For many, listening to music is an enjoyable experience pursued throughout one’s lifetime. Nearly 200 years of music psychology research has revealed the various ways music listening can impact human emotional states, as well as cognitive and motor performance. Music in video games has come a long way from the first chiptunes of 1978 to the full scores written specifically for games today. However, very little is understood of how background game music impacts game performance, behavior and experience. Even less is known for how music variables might affect performance, behavior and experience by individual differences, such as personality type. In this study, 78 participants scoring in the top 30% for their age range of either extraversion or introversion played a cognitive-training game in four music conditions (silence, low tempo, medium tempo, and high tempo). Performance, game play behavior, and flow experience scores were analyzed for each music condition by level of extraversion. While no statistically significant differences were found in game performance scores by level of extraversion, there were statistically significant differences found for play behavior (physical mouse motions) and flow experience for the music conditions. These results suggest that music can both alter the nature of physical game inputs and also provide a more engaging game experience, while not necessarily impacting one’s ability to perform in a game.

This thesis presents the development and implementation of a proof-of-concept study testing music listening’s capacity to reduce subjective and physiological symptoms of anxiety in a situation analogous to an anxiety disorder. This interdisciplinary thesis draws on both clinical psychology and music psychology literature to present a conceptualisation for music listening in the treatment of anxiety disorders. In preparation for the proof-of-concept study, criteria for optimal stimuli were synthesised from the music psychology literature, two optimal stimuli were selected, and an anxiety induction protocol was developed to model the worry-based nature of an anxiety disorder. The two stimuli selected were ‘The Swan’, from Carnival of the Animals, by Camille Saint-Saëns, and a combination of ‘Dawn’ and ‘The Secret’, by Dario Marianelli, from the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice. In the anxiety induction protocol, participants were told that they would be asked to give a presentation in front of other participants and experimenters (whom they had not yet seen), and that this presentation would be assessed. While they awaited the presentation, participants were asked to do a mental visualisation exercise, which involved thinking about any previous public speaking experience that had made them feel nervous. Participants were given headphones with either music or white noise while they completed this exercise. The proof-of-concept study was conducted with a general population, with participants (n = 58) randomised to listen to either music or white noise during the anxiety induction protocol. Subjective anxiety (as per the short form of the state scale of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, or STAI-SF) and physiological arousal (as per pulse rate and skin resistance) were measured. Physiological arousal measures were taken for one minute at baseline (time 1), for one minute when the participant had been introduced to the task and were reading through the mental visualisation exercise (time 2), and while the participants completed the mental visualisation exercise, and music or white noise was playing (time 3). Subjective anxiety scores were obtained immediately after each physiological time point. Results showed that subjective anxiety and physiological arousal rose significantly in response to the anxiety induction protocol, and that subjective anxiety and pulse rate decreased significantly in response to the music but remained the same for those who listened to white noise.

This thesis presents a model of a narrow faculty for music - qualities that are at once universally present and operational in music across cultures whilst also being specific to our species and to the domain of music. The comparative approach taken focuses on core psychological and physiological capabilities that root and enable appropriate engagement with music rather than on their observable physical correlates. Configurations of musical pulse; musical tone; and musical motivation are described as providing a sustained attentional structure for managing personal experience and interpersonal interaction and as offering a continually renewing phenomenological link between the immediate past, the perceptual present and future expectation. Constituent parts of the narrow faculty for music are considered most fundamentally as a potentiating, quasi-architectural framework in which our most central affective and socio-intentional drives are afforded extended time, stability, and a degree of abstraction, intensity, focus and meaning. The author contends, therefore, that music's defining characteristics, specific functionalities and/or situated efficacies are not demarcated in broadly termed "musical" qualities such as melodic contour or rhythm or in those surprisingly elusive "objective facts" of musical structure. Rather they are solely the attentional/motivational frameworks which root our faculty to make and make sense of music. Our generic capacities for culture and the manifold uses of action, gesture, and sound to express and induce emotion; to regulate affective states; to create or reflect meaning; to signify; to ritualize; coordinate; communicate; interrelate; embody; entrain; and/or intentionalize, none of these is assessed as being intrinsically unique to music performance. Music is, instead, viewed as an ordered expression of human experience, behaviour, interaction, and vitality, all shaped, shared, given significance, and/or transformed in time. The relevance of this model to topical debates on music and evolution is discussed and the author contends that the perspective offered affords significant implications for our understanding of why music is evidently and remarkably effective in certain settings and in the pursuit of certain social, individual, and therapeutic goals.

As is tradition in the UK, monograph theses are as a rule unpublished, but all material published as based on the doctoral research must be included in the thesis. The current thesis contains two published empirical articles in peer-reviewed journals and one conference paper. / Thesis submitted for the doctoral degree

The Cognition of Atonal Pitch Structures investigated the ability of a listener to internally organize atonal pitch sequences into hierarchical structures. Based on an information processing model proposed by Deutsch and Feroe (1981), the internal organization of well processed pitch sequences will result in the formation of hierarchical structures. The more efficiently information is processed by the listener, the more organized its internal hierarchical representation in memory. Characteristic of a well organized internal hierarchy As redundancy. Each ensuing level of the hierarchical structure represents a parsimoniuos recoding of the lower levels. In this respect, each higher hierarchical level contains the most salient structural features extracted from lower levels.Because efficient internal organization increases redundancy, more memory space must be allocated to retain a well processed pitch sequence. Based on this assumption, an experiment was conducted to determine the amount of information retained when listening to pre-organized atonal pitch structures and randomly organized pitch structures. Using time duration estimation techniques (Ornstein, 1969; Block, 1974), the relative size of memory allocated for a processing task was determined. Since the subjective experience of time is influenced by the amount of information processed and retained in memory (Ornstein, 1969; Block, 1974), longer time estimations corresponded to larger memory space allocations, and thus, more efficiently organized hierarchical structures.ConclusionThough not significant at the .05 level (p-.21), the results indicate a tendency to suggest that atonal pitch structures were more efficiently organized into internal hierarchical structures than were random pitch structures. The results of the experiment also suggest that a relationship exists between efficient internal hierarchical organization and increased attention and enjoyment. The present study also investigated the influence that other parameters may have on the cognition of pre-organized music. Of interest were the characteristics inherent in music which may facilitate internal organization.

One of the musical conductor's fundamental responsibilities is leading others to interpret and create music in a manner that was unfamiliar, unimagined, or inconceivable prior to the rehearsal experience. Regardless of the level or type of musical ensemble being conducted, each person within that ensemble possesses a unique perception of the musical, pedagogical, and stylistic elements, which must be compromised—if not completely abandoned in some instances—in the process of creating a cohesive musical ensemble. In addition to personal musical preparation and leadership, conductors are also responsible for leading, managing, and encouraging the carrying out of necessary administrative details that directly affect the desired musical product, such as resource management and staff development.This study begins by creating the general profile of an ideal leader based on theories common to numerous leadership and management scholars. Then, utilizing the established profile of the ideal leader, Robert Shaw's leadership behaviors and administrative practices were studied, documented, and organized into categories that correspond with those found in the profile of the ideal leader, providing an in-depth profile of Shaw's character, convictions, and competence, both as a human being and as a musician.Robert Shaw was not only an exceptional musician, but also an accomplished leader and manager of multifaceted musical organizations. As a result, Shaw's time was not only occupied with musical study and preparation, but he was equally aware of the administrative and organizational details necessary for the music to reach its highest potential. As is true with all successful leaders, Shaw delegated many duties and responsibilities to others, such as Nola Frink, Charles McKay, and Nick Jones. Even so, he maintained an acute awareness of the multitude of tasks being performed under his aegis. Also a vital leader within his local community, Shaw's leadership reached far beyond the realm of conducting. Frequently speaking in churches, social clubs, and graduation ceremonies, he was an activist for the arts, civil rights, and contemporary music throughout his life. / School of Music

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, 2004. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-03, Section: B, page: 1563. Adviser: Nigel Field.

The personality of musicians, artists, and other creative persons is of considerable interest to researchers and educators who seek to identify traits associated with musical behaviors. Personality traits can influence music behaviors such as instrument choice, ensemble choice, practice habits, and musical experience, which may contribute to continued music participation. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships between personality type, music ensemble section, instrument choice (vocal or instrumental), and musical experience in college students and individuals who choose to continue participation after college. Few studies have concentrated on personality characteristics of ensemble members at the collegiate level and after formal education ceases. This is particularly relevant as personality characteristics may not be stable with age. This study examined the following questions: 1) To what extent do personality traits (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) relate to ensemble choice (instrumental, vocal no musical ensemble participation) and gender?; and 2) To what extent do personality traits (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Openness to Experience) relate to ensemble section (e.g., brass, alto voice)? Participants were given a survey containing demographic questions and the Big Five Personality Inventory IPIP (Goldberg, 1992). Results showed that vocalists scored higher in Extroversion and Agreeableness compared to instrumentalists, and Instrumentalists scored higher in Neuroticism than vocalists. These results are consistent with previous research findings. This study has many implications for ensemble directors, such as rehearsal structure and repertoire choice. Music educators could also benefit from this knowledge when developing lesson plans and group assignments. Understanding different personality traits would also help ensemble members with communication within the ensemble.